Holcroft was hard done by

Aug 28 2008 by Dave Bettley, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

LINNETS boss Steve Wilkes saluted his deputy for a superb comeback performance after his controversial red card.

Goalkeeper and assistant player-manager Holcroft’s dismissal with the score at 1-1 was the catalyst for Linnets’ 5-1 Saturday home defeat by Colne – their first setback of the Vodkat League Premier Division season.

However, Wilkes’ men bounced back in fine style with a stunning 2-0 win at big-spending New Mills.

Wilkes said: “Robbie’s character came out. I know people will look at the saves he made and he made a great save from a header and another that he tipped over the bar.

“That one was offside but Robbie wasn’t to know that.

“But the thing that stood out for me was, in the last seven or eight minutes, how he came to claim the ball with two fine catches. That just summed him up to me. Fantastic.”

Holcroft was given his marching orders 12 minutes into the second half of the Colne match for upending Adam Whiteoak.

“Robbie thought that the player had gone in on him two-footed in the first place and then he had also got a touch to the ball,” said the manager.

“The linesman said to Robbie as he came off that he didn’t think it was a sending off because there was a man behind him.

“When I have asked the referee, he turned it round and said he wasn’t the last man but he had denied a goalscoring opportunity.”

Runcorn don’t know as yet which game Holcroft will miss.

But Linnets could easily have had two goalkeepers sent off in the same match when substitute Ross Boyd fouled Liam Garbutt but escaped with a yellow card.

“There’s no doubt about it. Ross’ foul when he brought the lad down was worse than Robbie’s,” added Wilkes.

“We were beaten 5-1 and I am not taking anything away from Colne. But I thought the referee was weak.”

Martin Broderick capitalised on Holcroft’s dismissal by going on to score a hat-trick against the manager who allowed him to leave Padiham for Colne last year.

For Saturday’s FA Cup visit to UniBond League Division One North outfit Curzon Ashton (ko 3pm), Wilkes hopes he won’t be haunted by another striker that got away.

Michael Norton, 27, scored 51 goals for Curzon last year and was a target for Wilkes during the summer.

“I spoke to him in the summer and thought he was going to come, although we would have had to try to get somebody to fund his wages,” explained Wilkes.

“But all of a sudden, Curzon offered him a bit more and he stayed there.

“Norton has been missing through injury and if he is not playing on Saturday, that would be a big bonus.”

Wilkes stressed: “We can go there and relax as we are not expected to win.

“But we will be going out to win the game, make no bones about that, and I think we’ve got a chance if we play like we did on Monday.”

Centre-back Thomas Boden has a shoulder injury while midfielder Jay Edwards was involved in a car accident on his way to the New Mills game and was shaken when he eventually arrived 15 minutes before kick-off.

Player-coach Alan Glover remains unavailable for the trip to Ashton-under-Lyne but fellow full-back Brian Walsh (dead leg) is likely to recover.

Linnets players have clubbed together to buy a brick for the club’s proposed new ground at Riverside College Halton’s Runcorn campus as a memorial to regular home and away supporter Dave Grundy, who died recently.